1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nanoparticle chain, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a nanoparticle chain.
2. Description of Related Art
A nanoparticle is a small particle with a size falling within a range from 1 to 100 nanometers and some features of the nanoparticle are reduced size, weight and volume and an increased surface area, such that the physical and chemical properties including optical, magnetic, electrical and thermal properties of the nanoparticle varies according to its composite structure, shape, and particle size of the nanoparticle. Therefore, we can fine tune the physical and chemical properties such as the reflection and scattering of the nanoparticle by changing the structure or shape of the nanoparticle. Therefore, the nanoparticle is an advanced multifunctional material that plays an important role in the fields of chemistry, physics, biochemistry, medicine, and material science.
For example, a gold nugget has a golden metallic luster. However, if the inter-nanoparticle distance is greater than the average particle diameter, the solution containing dispersed gold nanoparticles is red in color. If the gold nanoparticles are clustered, the inter-nanoparticle distance will become smaller; and if the inter-nanoparticle distance is smaller than the average particle diameter, the solution will change its color from red to blue due to the absorbing effect of the surface plasmon resonance of the gold nanoparticles. Since the gold nanoparticle has obvious optical, chemical and catalytic properties, gold nanoparticles are used extensively in biochemical examinations. The surface plasmon resonance refers to a process of applying electromagnetic waves to gold nanoparticles in appropriate conditions, such that free electrons at the surface are excited to resulting in collective oscillation, and surface plasmon during this process is absorbed or scattered by the action of the electromagnetic waves at specific frequency and the surface plasmon. The oscillation of this sort is limited to the surface, so that the resonance condition is very sensitive to the shape of the surface and the surrounding environment. For example, the resonance frequency of the gold nanoparticles is related to the diameter of the particles.
The method of using a nanostructure of the nanoparticle to control the optical properties of the nanoparticles is a feasible solution. For example, the nanostructure can reduce reflection and scattering in the application of solar cells to improve the power generation efficiency of the solar cells. However, the feasibility of using a bottom-up method to assemble the nanoparticle structure is still questionable. For example, nano devices cannot be installed closely next to one another and disposed on the required structure, and the alignment of the nanostructure cannot be controlled precisely.
In a conventional method, a lithographical process must be used to form specific shaped nanostructure, and a mask formed on a surface of the nano material and a required pattern is transprinted thereon, and then an etching technique is used to remove the portion of extra material, so as to form the required shape. However, the nanostructure formed by this method cannot be adjusted further once the manufacturing process has been completed since the nanostructure is fixed on a surface. Obviously, such nanostructure has poor flexibility and stretchability. If it is necessary to fine tune the nanostructure, a new nanostructure must be formed on the surface again, and thus incurring higher manufacturing cost and longer manufacturing time.
DNA is the major chemical substance living organisms use to duplicate and store genetic information, and DNA has also been proven to be a very useful construction material on a nano scale. With the self-assembly nanostructure formed by DNA molecules, considerable potential exists for using nano material for the bottom-up nano manufacturing technology. The potential applications of the DNA self-assembly include nano electronics, biosensors and programmable/self-discipline molecular devices. Recently, DNA has been used for creating a periodical patterned structure, nano mechanical devices, and molecular computer systems. In addition, DNA with appropriate chemical substances is applied for guiding the assembly of other functional molecules. Therefore, DNA nanobiotechnology has become an emerging field of recent years.
In summation, the conventional nanoparticle structure still lacks flexibility and stretchability and has the drawbacks of a complicated manufacturing process and high manufacturing costs, and thus requiring improvements.